Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
I thought I would address each of the concerns and hopes I had before this game which I posted on Saturday:
Concerns:
1. The Cardinals will continue to be bullied and intimidated by teams that are more physical.
The Cardinals dominated the first half and did not look bullied or intimidated at all. In the second half, the Seahawks made a furious charge and just when some Cardinals' teams of the past would have rolled over, Carson Palmer and the offense answered with two textbook TD drives under extreme duress. The defense also came up big in crunch time, as did the STs when Chandler Catanzaro made the 38 yard extra point and Larry Fitzgerald caught the on-side kick.
The play that epitomizes the Cardinals' toughness in this game was after getting burned on Seahawk blitzes, the second of which was right up the A gap, on the go-ahead drive, Andre Ellington from the left side of Palmer bolted over the the right A gap and took the ILB out at the knees and flipped him, which then allowed Palmer the extra time to get the ball to Jaron Brown on at out pass to the left flat for a key third down conversion. Brown's focus on catching and securing the ball on that conversion was equally outstanding.
2. John Brown's hamstring---has had over 2 weeks to heal and yet he is still limited in practice and he remains a game-time decision yet again this week.
While clearly John Brown was not a factor in this game---he did two very key things; (1) he drew a lot of attention in coverage, which allowed others like Fitz, Floyd and Jaron Brown to get open; (2) he drew a huge illegal contact call to extend a 4th quarter drive. Hopefully, Smoke can return to his normal playing form this week.
3. The Seahawks have the Cardinals' defense totally figured out and know precisely how to exploit it.
The Seahawks' did not have success on any of their bread and butter plays in this game. The Cardinals defense bottled up Marshawn Lynch for the most part and held the Seattle TEs, Graham and Willson to minimal catches and yards. Have to give a lot of credit to S Tony Jefferson who broke up the Graham TD and was pestering Graham and Willson in coverage most of the game. Not sure how some of our more high profile posters at ASFN continue to maintain that Jefferson is "just a guy."
4. Whether the Cardinals have enough athleticism at the 4 LB spots to be effective versus Russell Wilson and teams that run and play fast.
Trying to corral Russell Wilson is like trying to corral a squirrel in a forest---that said, the Cardinals' linebackers were adequate---not great---but it sure helps that the linebackers are surrounded by aggressive corners and safeties.
5. The Seahawks' luck. Sure they make a lot of their luck because they play hard, they hit hard and they are resilient. But, man, Russell Wilson is like the bionic man---the dude takes his share of hits (taken 31 sacks this year) and never gets hurt. Winning the Lions' game on that bogus non-call---was like winning the GB MNF game a couple of year's ago on that bogus Hail Mary call in the end zone. Like recovering the on-side kick in the GB Championship game when it was heading straight into the waiting arms of Jordy Nelson, and TE Brandon Bostick abandons his blocking assignment to try to leap up and catch the ball.
When Jaron Brown snatched what would have been a sure-fire Richard Sherman interception out of his hands---the Cardinals started making their own luck in this game. While the officiating was frustrating at times, the officials did a very good job of not letting the Seahawks' defense get away with holding or illegal contact calls. Typically the Seahawks get away with much more than they did in this game.
Hopes:
1. The Cardinals are going to come up with a knockout punch this year.
The team took a major first step in this game, especially in light of how it had everything going against them momentum-wise in the 4th quarter and the Cardinals showed tremendous resolve to take command of the game again.
2. Carson Palmer and crew are going to outwork and outplay the competition.
This is exactly what Palmer and the crew did in this game. They dominated time of possession and, in the end, they gassed the Seattle defense.
3. The Cardinals' defense will finally start to get consistent pressure on the QB.
The pressure the Cardinals' defense got on Wilson was consistent. It seemed that all Wilson had was a 2-3 second throwing window and then he took his eyes off his receivers and started running to escape the pocket, where he then wanted to take a look downfield again. The Cardinals could have been a little more disciplined in staying in their rushing lanes, but team really need to rush 5 in order to make it more difficult for Wilson to slip outside or inside of the edge rush.
4. The Cardinals' special teams do more to help the team succeed.
Yes they did in this game. Bethel, Butler, Catanzaro, Brit Golden, Leach and Patrick Peterson stepped up and were a strong factor in the team's success.
5. The Seahawks falter and learn they can't just turn it on when they want to and the Rams remain inconsistent.
What a great day in the NFC West it was for the Cardinals. The Seahawks did turn it on in the second half, but they faltered down the stretch and the Rams got dominated and torched on big plays at home by the Bears.
Defensive MVP: Tyrann Mathieu.
Defensive Game Changer: Frostee Rucker.
Defensive Unsung Players: Josh Mauro, Tony Jefferson.
Offensive MVP: Carson Palmer.
Offensive Game Changers: Michael Floyd, Larry Fitzgerald.
Offensive Unsung Players: Andre Ellington, Jaron Brown.
Special Teams' MVPs: Justin Bethel, Chandler Catanzaro.
Special Teams' Game Changer: Patrick Peterson.
Special Teams' Unsung Players: Mike Leach, Brittan Golden.
It was surreal to watch the Cardinals demoralize the Seahawks and the vaunted 12th Man in the first half and late in the fourth quarter. This effort was especially sweet for those of us, like Steve Keim, who won't ever forget the 58-0 game. Man this one tastes especially good, doesn't it?
Concerns:
1. The Cardinals will continue to be bullied and intimidated by teams that are more physical.
The Cardinals dominated the first half and did not look bullied or intimidated at all. In the second half, the Seahawks made a furious charge and just when some Cardinals' teams of the past would have rolled over, Carson Palmer and the offense answered with two textbook TD drives under extreme duress. The defense also came up big in crunch time, as did the STs when Chandler Catanzaro made the 38 yard extra point and Larry Fitzgerald caught the on-side kick.
The play that epitomizes the Cardinals' toughness in this game was after getting burned on Seahawk blitzes, the second of which was right up the A gap, on the go-ahead drive, Andre Ellington from the left side of Palmer bolted over the the right A gap and took the ILB out at the knees and flipped him, which then allowed Palmer the extra time to get the ball to Jaron Brown on at out pass to the left flat for a key third down conversion. Brown's focus on catching and securing the ball on that conversion was equally outstanding.
2. John Brown's hamstring---has had over 2 weeks to heal and yet he is still limited in practice and he remains a game-time decision yet again this week.
While clearly John Brown was not a factor in this game---he did two very key things; (1) he drew a lot of attention in coverage, which allowed others like Fitz, Floyd and Jaron Brown to get open; (2) he drew a huge illegal contact call to extend a 4th quarter drive. Hopefully, Smoke can return to his normal playing form this week.
3. The Seahawks have the Cardinals' defense totally figured out and know precisely how to exploit it.
The Seahawks' did not have success on any of their bread and butter plays in this game. The Cardinals defense bottled up Marshawn Lynch for the most part and held the Seattle TEs, Graham and Willson to minimal catches and yards. Have to give a lot of credit to S Tony Jefferson who broke up the Graham TD and was pestering Graham and Willson in coverage most of the game. Not sure how some of our more high profile posters at ASFN continue to maintain that Jefferson is "just a guy."
4. Whether the Cardinals have enough athleticism at the 4 LB spots to be effective versus Russell Wilson and teams that run and play fast.
Trying to corral Russell Wilson is like trying to corral a squirrel in a forest---that said, the Cardinals' linebackers were adequate---not great---but it sure helps that the linebackers are surrounded by aggressive corners and safeties.
5. The Seahawks' luck. Sure they make a lot of their luck because they play hard, they hit hard and they are resilient. But, man, Russell Wilson is like the bionic man---the dude takes his share of hits (taken 31 sacks this year) and never gets hurt. Winning the Lions' game on that bogus non-call---was like winning the GB MNF game a couple of year's ago on that bogus Hail Mary call in the end zone. Like recovering the on-side kick in the GB Championship game when it was heading straight into the waiting arms of Jordy Nelson, and TE Brandon Bostick abandons his blocking assignment to try to leap up and catch the ball.
When Jaron Brown snatched what would have been a sure-fire Richard Sherman interception out of his hands---the Cardinals started making their own luck in this game. While the officiating was frustrating at times, the officials did a very good job of not letting the Seahawks' defense get away with holding or illegal contact calls. Typically the Seahawks get away with much more than they did in this game.
Hopes:
1. The Cardinals are going to come up with a knockout punch this year.
The team took a major first step in this game, especially in light of how it had everything going against them momentum-wise in the 4th quarter and the Cardinals showed tremendous resolve to take command of the game again.
2. Carson Palmer and crew are going to outwork and outplay the competition.
This is exactly what Palmer and the crew did in this game. They dominated time of possession and, in the end, they gassed the Seattle defense.
3. The Cardinals' defense will finally start to get consistent pressure on the QB.
The pressure the Cardinals' defense got on Wilson was consistent. It seemed that all Wilson had was a 2-3 second throwing window and then he took his eyes off his receivers and started running to escape the pocket, where he then wanted to take a look downfield again. The Cardinals could have been a little more disciplined in staying in their rushing lanes, but team really need to rush 5 in order to make it more difficult for Wilson to slip outside or inside of the edge rush.
4. The Cardinals' special teams do more to help the team succeed.
Yes they did in this game. Bethel, Butler, Catanzaro, Brit Golden, Leach and Patrick Peterson stepped up and were a strong factor in the team's success.
5. The Seahawks falter and learn they can't just turn it on when they want to and the Rams remain inconsistent.
What a great day in the NFC West it was for the Cardinals. The Seahawks did turn it on in the second half, but they faltered down the stretch and the Rams got dominated and torched on big plays at home by the Bears.
Defensive MVP: Tyrann Mathieu.
Defensive Game Changer: Frostee Rucker.
Defensive Unsung Players: Josh Mauro, Tony Jefferson.
Offensive MVP: Carson Palmer.
Offensive Game Changers: Michael Floyd, Larry Fitzgerald.
Offensive Unsung Players: Andre Ellington, Jaron Brown.
Special Teams' MVPs: Justin Bethel, Chandler Catanzaro.
Special Teams' Game Changer: Patrick Peterson.
Special Teams' Unsung Players: Mike Leach, Brittan Golden.
It was surreal to watch the Cardinals demoralize the Seahawks and the vaunted 12th Man in the first half and late in the fourth quarter. This effort was especially sweet for those of us, like Steve Keim, who won't ever forget the 58-0 game. Man this one tastes especially good, doesn't it?
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